Melita () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

located in the south-western corner of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. It is surrounded by the

Municipality of Two Borders The Municipality of Two Borders is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located in the extreme south-west corner of the province in the Westman Region. The rural municipality's name is a reference to its lo ...

and occupies a bend of the Souris River. Graham Creek runs along the west side of town and into the Souris River. The population at the 2016 census was 1,042. It sits at the junction of Highways 3 and 83, approximately 320 km southwest of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

. Melita is known as the "Grasslands Bird Capital of Manitoba" and is located in Manitoba's banana belt.

History

Evidence of First Nations habitation in the area includes the Linear Mounds Archaeological Site and the Brockinton Archaeological Site, which have provided artifacts dating back to 800 AD. The site has been designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

. Charles West was the first recorded European settler, in 1879. The early inhabitants chose the name "Melita" for the town after hearing a Bible reading
Acts 28:1
about St. Paul's shipwreck on the island of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

(Melita is an older name for the island). File:Main Street, Melita.jpg, Main Street (2014) File:Water tower, Melita.jpg, Water tower

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Melita had a population of 1,041 living in 465 of its 548 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,042. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

James Breakey James Washington Breakey (December 25, 1865 in Port Hope, Canada West (now Ontario) – February 27, 1952), was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was briefly the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, and was subsequently a supporter of ...

, politician *

John Cobb (Manitoba politician) John Gordon Cobb (January 18, 1903 – August 20, 1959) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1958 to 1959, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. The son of William John ...

, politician *

Jim Downey (politician) James Erwin Downey (born August 10, 1942) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1999, and served as a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Sterling L ...

, politician *

Betty Fox Betty Lou Fox (née Wark; November 15, 1937 – June 17, 2011) was a Canadian cancer research activist, the mother of Terry Fox and founder of the Terry Fox Foundation. She was the most prominent figure in Terry Fox's legacy. Biography Fox ...

, cancer research activist and mother of

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...

, was raised in Melita. * Wayne Hall, professional hockey player *

Kory Karlander Kory Karlander (born March 21, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most notably played for the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL. In his 17th season as a professional hockey player, at the age of 39, Karlander was named to t ...

, professional hockey player * J. Arthur Ross, politician

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Manitoba

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References

External links